Category: Terrazzo in Airports

What better place to showcase the work of local Cleveland artists than a place where more than 11 million people visit every year? And what better material to bring those artistic visions to life than terrazzo?

The city of Cleveland has done just that. Through the CLE Terrazzo Art Project, it has transformed the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) into a local art gallery. While some exhibitions come and go, the Terrazzo Art Project is a permanent installation. The rich colors of the designs will be a proud reminder of Cleveland’s beauty for decades.

The Terrazzo Art Project’s theme is “Cleveland – A Green City on a Blue Lake (Past, Present & Future).”

Cleveland’s own O.A. Bertin Co. was the contractor on the job, overseeing the terrazzo installations in seven separate locations throughout the terminal and concourses at CLE.Claire Sullivan Gerdes is a Cleveland artist and designer who runs her own design studio, Claire Sullivan Design. Her design, “Hooked on Cleveland” (pictured), was one of the seven designs selected for the CLE Terrazzo Project. Claire’s use of diverse shapes, naturalistic images, and symbolic icons—all framed by a flowing border—serves to highlight Cleveland’s world-renowned institutions, abundant natural resources, and the down-to-earth charm of the “Forest City.”

In the golden age of rail travel, the first impression most new visitors had of any major city came when they arrived in a magnificent 19th century train station. Travelers in recent years have more likely been introduced to a major city at an international airport. Alas, many major airports built over the last 40 or 50 years have frequently been designed to be utilitarian and cost effective.

It isn’t that way anymore. Airport terminals welcome visitors and give them a lasting impression of the host community with elegant terrazzo flooring. Terrazzo is ideal for an area with heavy traffic, like an airport terminal. Terrazzo is inexpensive and easy to maintain and will look great for decades. Some floors found in hotels and restaurants built in the 1930s look as good now as they did when they were first installed.

Even better, terrazzo flooring lends itself to wonderful custom designs. You can create a work of art that will prompt weary travelers to pause and admire—conveying a positive message about the community.

Airports are typically filled with stressed-out travelers frazzled by delays, lines and security. RS&H Architecture, the architects of the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport terminal, hired SKP Design to help alleviate some of that stress.

Sondra Phillips, owner of SKP, oversaw the terrazzo river design that now stretches along the second floor bridge of the airport terminal. Phillips and the architects decided on terrazzo for its long lifespan and ability to convey the shimmer and swirls of an actual river with the use of recycled glass, mother of pearl, and stone.

SKP Design worked with contractor Central Tile & Terrazzo to execute their naturalistic vision for the terminal bridge on time and under budget.

The bridge has been easing travelers’ nerves while also representing the many treasured rivers that run through southwest Michigan since the new terminal’s opening in April 2011.